1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a spacer textile, particularly a knitted spacer textile, having two cover plies spaced apart from one another, and having spacer threads that connect the cover plies with one another, whereby the cover plies are each formed from a main thread system and a further thread system, forming courses that follow one another in the production direction. Another object of the invention is a laminate material for lining the interior of a motor vehicle with such a spacer textile, as well as with an applied cover layer.
2. The Prior Art
Spacer textiles having cover plies spaced apart from one another as well as spacer threads that run between them have good, uniformly pressure-elastic properties, and an overall light structure, and are therefore suitable, to a particular degree, as backing upholstery. For example, spacer textiles are used in the automotive sector for interior trim, whereby laminate materials having a spacer textile and a cover layer laminated onto it, for example leather, artificial leather, or a decorative film, can be used to line the car roof interior, the dashboard, as well as the door sides. Furthermore, it is known to use knitted spacer textiles having a relatively great compression hardness and a great density as a functional layer in climate-controlled seats or seat covers of motor vehicles.
In the use of a spacer textile as backing upholstery of dashboards, which are also called instrument panels in practice, it is necessary that the laminate of spacer textile and cover layer break open, in a controlled manner, in the event of an accident, at those locations where an air bag is disposed, so that the latter can unfold freely. Specifically in this area of the dashboard, however, visible seams, edges, or uneven areas should be avoided, for esthetic reasons.
A knitted spacer textile having the characteristics described initially, which can be torn with reduced expenditure of force at a planned parting location that runs in the production direction, when pulled in the transverse direction, is described in European Patent No. EP 1 860 218 B1. The spacer threads, which connect wales of the one cover ply with warp strings of the other cover ply, which is offset relative to the first, in a top view, in an X lapping, are omitted at the planned parting location, whereby the spacer threads have an I lapping at the wales between which the planned parting location is formed. The cover plies each have a main thread system that forms courses in the transverse direction and wales in the production direction, over the full area. A weft thread that runs in the transverse direction is provided as an additional thread system; it connects the wales and has a comparatively low tear strength. At the planned parting location, the adjacent wales are connected only by the weft thread, so that there, easy tearing of the knitted spacer textile is made possible when the textile is pulled in the transverse direction. Despite the weakening, the planned parting location is not visible underneath a cover layer of leather, artificial leather, or the like. The known knitted spacer textile has proven itself in practice as a cover for air bags. However, the precise positioning of the planned parting location, which is usually marked with a colored thread, requires increased effort in the production of an interior trim.
A knitted spacer textile that consists of a total of seven thread systems is described in German Patent No. DE 102 60 694 B4. The cover plies are each formed by two thread systems, which form stitches essentially over the entire surface. These two thread systems are omitted only at planned parting locations that run in the production direction, whereby then, a parting thread runs between adjacent strips. The disclosed production method is intended for the production of multiple elastic bandages in a common work cycle, and these are then separated in a subsequent parting process. Homogeneous behavior of the intermediate product cannot be expected.